Recently, there has been an upsurge in racial awareness. But what about the people who speak out on an issue when it is not their place to do so? Are they helping the situation or making it far, far worse?
By: Benika (Jano) 10.3
With the rise of cancel culture and the increase of social media influence, we have become more aware about the issues of today. However, it has come to my attention that people are misusing serious words and taking offence to situations which are clearly harmless. This is where the problem lies.
To be clear from the start, would like to establish that I am East Asian. Watching people accuse others of Asian fishing has been exhausting. Why make a community appear sensitive to something if you aren’t part of it? Why would you speak out on a topic if you aren’t educated on it to begin with? Why be the supposed savior of the problem when you yourself are the problem?
The history of racism against East Asians in mainstream media root from movies like Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Mr. Yunioshi (Mickey Rooney) is portrayed as a cliché Japanese man who complains about the loud noise and warns Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) that he may call the police. The stereotypical way he talks feeds into what many non-East Asians assume we all sound like. They do not expect us to sound eloquent and well-spoken but compliment us when we speak fluent English. This was surprising to me because the only language I am fluent in is English. A fairly recent case of Asian fishing in mainstream media has been Scarlett Johansson’s casting in Ghost in the Shell. No, she was not Asian fishing, but the casting choice was a terrible mistake. Why whitewash an East Asian character when you could simply cast an East Asian actress. The fact that we are underrepresented in mainstream media despite the fact that there are several capable East Asian actors waiting to be casted is appalling.
One of the many examples of this is when people take offense to fox eyeliner and misuse the word “Asian fishing.” I do not see any issue with it. Despite this, many non-east Asians have called out people allegedly ‘Asian fishing’ on social media platforms, enforcing the idea that wearing eyeliner is offensive. It is not. As a result, the majority of people have begun to view these people as sensitive- and rightfully so; but in turn, the east-Asian community is now being viewed as sensitive which portrays us as the irritable and problematic villain. Furthermore, the word “Asian fishing” is now being watered down to being “just eyeliner,” defeats the purpose of the term. This is because it reduces a word that points out a racist action to something as trivial as applying a makeup product slightly incorrectly.
Now that we’ve established what Asian fishing can be mistaken as, what exactly is Asian fishing?
When an individual wears makeup manipulating their face in a way that depicts them as east Asian all while wearing clothing from east Asian countries (e.g., a kimono), then yes; it is Asian fishing. Several have begun wearing provocative Japanese traditional dress which is both disrespectful and racist. Yes, you can still wear a kimono and be respectful of Japanese culture. However, it is disrespectful to sexualize traditional dress for your “aesthetic.” Wearing a ‘kawaii’ anime costume (which tremendously sexualizes you), puffing air into your cheeks to imitate our facial features, all while wearing eyeliner exaggerating east Asian features that you don’t have is Asian fishing. Watching East Asian entertainment like anime does not make you any more East Asian.
The reasoning behind this may be that East Asian representation in mainstream media has become much more profitable in recent years. It has a reason, but it is stupid and the excuse for blatant racism is weak. Non-East Asians have begun to cosplay characters from Squid Game and popular anime like Attack on Titan- which is completely fine. It does, however, become a problem when they begin to Asian fish as a part of their costume.
Misinformation spreading like the plague on social media is making this an increasingly concerning issue. Non-East Asians need to learn that it is not their place to decide if someone is Asian fishing or not. It is not their place to accept their apology. It is ours. It is extremely frustrating to see others fighting out their own battles for us. To water down a term to “it’s just eyeliner” is pathetic and disgusting. And to think that despite our increase in representation in entertainment is increasing, but the racism against us is brushed off is pathetic and disgusting. You would not call someone blackfacing “just using a spray tan,” would you?
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